Tilted container



Jan. 12, 1954- c. R. ERICSON 2,665,949 TILTED CONTAINER *led April 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 a 6 1 v M 51 A 1 C INVENTOR ESEORGE R/ERICSON ATTORNEY Jan. 12, 1954 ERlCSGN 2,665,949

TIL-TED CONTAINER Filed April 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' E INVENTOR GEO RGEIR.ERI'C ON ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNHTED;

ATNT OFFICE 2,665,949 TILTED CONTAINER George R. Ericson, Kirkwood, Mo., assignor to F r Compan ew.

American, 'Car and. York, N. Y.

a corporation of New Jersey Application April 2 4, 1950, S erial157,75 3

' 1 Claims. (01.302- 57 This invention relates "to. containers in general ject, therefore, of the present invention to provide a container having both ends of substantially identical formation and joined by a cylindrical shell.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a container of the pressure type which is mounted on its supporting base so that the area on which pulverulent material might rest is reduced to a minimum.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a pressure type container for pulverulent material which is mounted on a base substantially elliptical in cross-section.

A yet further object of the invention is the provision of a pressure type container mounted on a base structure and having discharge outlets so arranged that discharge may be made from either ide.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings, in which i Fig. 1 i an elevational view of the improved tilted container;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved container with certain parts left 01f to avoid confusing detail;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the improved tilted container;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 having the combined dis-- charge nozzles and valves in place,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view disclosing the parts in condition to discharge pulverulent or other material, and

Fig. 6 shows a fragmentary diagram of the outlet connection and valves therefor.

Referring now to the drawing in detail it will be seen that the container is made with a head portion A and base portion B welded or otherwise secured to a cylindrical central portion C. The head and base portions A and B are preferably identical in form so that they may be made" on "the same die. The head portion A has an opening cut therein and this opening is reinforced by an angle or other shaped frame 2 to which can be fastened a pressure type lid 4 secured in place by a plurality of swing bolt or other means 6. The ends A and B have the ma: jor portion formed on a relatively large radius of curvature, with the edges merging through sharply curved corners into the straight flanges by means of which the ends are secured to the cylindrical portion C.

A cylindrical container of the type just described when tilted so that its longitudinal axis is inclined with respect to the vertical will produce a container having only a very mall porticn or" the bottom sloped less than the angle of repose of the pulverulent material, which may be placed in the container. In order to hold the container in the tilted position shown, a skirtor supporting wall It of elliptical form is welded or otherwise secured to the cylindrical portion 0 and to the sharply curved corners S of both the head A and base B. In other words, the elliptical form base has the region adjacent the ends of its minor axis welded to the cylindrical portion 0, while the areas in the region of it major axis are secured to the curved corners 8 of thehead A' and bottom B. The height of the supporting skirt may be reduced if desired, but in any case it will of necessity have to be attached, or will directly support both the bottom and the cylindrical part C. The lower edge of the elliptical supporting skirt is preferably stiffened by an angle l2 extending continuously.

around the bottom edge and providing added bearing area in cases where the container will be resting on wood or other structures. The container and its supporting structure may be lifted onto any suitable type of vehicle or from the vehicle onto any suitable supporting surfaces by means of suitable handling mechanism attached to the lifting eyes it. I

In order to discharge the tilted container, pipes 20 extend through the elliptical skirt from either side in the area of the minor axis of the elliptical skirt and these pipes have their inner ends projecting through openings out in the lowermost portion of the curved corner 8 of the bottom '3 and flanged at 26 to facilitate their attachmentv to the container wall and associated parts. These pipe flanges 23 maybe securely welded or other wise secured'to the container and have their innor ends cut off so as to conform to the" inner surface of the container, all as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. With the container tilted as shown allportions of the cylindrical shell 0' willbe sloped with respect to the horizontal at angles equal to or greater than the angle of inclination of the container axis. Also, all portions of the bottom B will be sloped with respect to the horizontal at angles equal to or greater than the inclination of the bottom as shown in Fig. 1. With the container as shown the axis is sloped at an angle of forty-five degrees, accordingly substantially all portions of the base B and cylindrical shell will readily permit movement of pulverulent material downward toward the discharge pipes 20. Some material may tend to lie in the lowermost portion of the sharply curved part 8 and this material may be moved toward the discharge outlet pipes by means of nozzles 22 fastened in the container in the zone of the curved corners and attached to be fed by air through pipes 24 extending exterior of the container shell.

The outer ends of discharge pipes 20 are flanged as at 25 and adapted to receive bolts or other means 28 by means of which a flanged closure plate 38 may be securely fastened to the pipe flange 26. The flanged closure plate 33 is welded or otherwise secured to a pipe 32 telescoping within pipe 2!! and having an outside diameter but slightly smaller than the inside diameter of discharge pipes 253. The outer ends of the pipes 32 are closed by means of the closure plate 3% which is provided with a threaded opening 33 which is normally closed by plug 34. The plug 34 protects the threads of the opening 33 and inasmuch as only one nozzle 32 is used during unloading, provides a seal for the inactive nozzle. To connect one of the nozzles 32 with a suitable source of compressed air a valved union is illustrated at 35, having outer threaded inlet 35a and flanged outlet end 351), the latter flange to be clamped or bolted to the flanges 26 and 30 after removal of the plug 34. A plug valve 31 controls the flow of compressed air to the nozzles 32, and another valve 31a controls the passage of air through the lateral port 39 in instances when the nozzles 22 are to be utilized, connection between the lateral port 39 and nozzle 22 being by means of a flexible hose 22a. Ihe inner ends of pipes 32 are reduced in diamter to provide a nozzle tip 33, which nozzle tip is adapted to'discharge into the opposed discharge pipe 20. The ends of these nozzles when in normal position as shown in Fig. 4 have their ends closely adjacent to each other and one of the nozzles has preferably secured thereto a flared extension 38 adapted to fit over the opposed nozzle and prevent entrance of pulverulent material to the nozzle interior during shipment. Each nozzle is also preferably provided with a plurality of fine holes .40 drilled through the pipe 32 at different angles for the purpose of aerating or disturbing the pulverulent material in the zone of the discharge nozzle.

In operation the container will be filled through the door or manhole 4 and transported with the nozzles in place as shown in Fig. 4, thus the nozzles will always be shipped with the container and will serve as plugs or valves preventing pulverulent material from packing or becoming hardened in the discharge pipes 2c. Upon arrival at the point of discharge one of the pipes 32 will be removed leaving the parts in the condition shown in Fig. 5. A receiving pipe or other structure will then be bolted to the flange 2B for carrying away material from the container. Air or other gaseous material will then be fed through the pipe 32 and its nozzle as shown at the left hand side of Fig. by a connection such as shown in Fig. 6, and this air of gaseous material will aerate or fluff the material due to the small holes 40, while the main blast from the nozzle will carry the material out of the opposed discharge pipe 28. Normally, the nozzles 22 will not be needed except at the time of final discharge or cleaning up of the container interior. Turning gaseous material into these nozzles will blast the small amount of remaining material off the walls and into position to be picked up by the blast of the nozzle formed on pipe 32.

While the container has been described more or less in detail with specific reference to one tilted position, it will be understood that various modifications and rearrangements of parts other than those shown and described may be made without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical baseportion, a central cylindrical portion joining the head and base portions, and a plate metal skirt shrouding the lower portion of the container and having its upper edge secured to each of said portions to retain the container in a tilted position.

2. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining the head and base portions, and a plate metal skirt shrouding the lower portion of the container and having its upper edge secured to each of said portions to retain the container in a tilted position, said supporting skirt being substantially elliptical in crosssection.

3. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, a pair of discharge pipes secured to said container adjacent the juncture of said central portion and base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and means normally closing said discharge pipes and having the inner ends projecting into the container, said inner ends being formed with ejector tips whereby pulverulent material may be blown out of the container through the opposed discharge pipe.

4. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, a pair of discharge pipes secured to said container adjacent the juncture of said central portion and base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and an ejector nozzle removably mounted in and closing each of said discharge pipes and having their inner ends substantially abutting intermediate the ends of said discharge pipes.

. 5. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, a pair of discharge pipes secured to said container adjacent the juncture of said central portion and base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, an ejector nozzle removably mounted in and closing each of said discharge pipes and having their inner ends substantially abutting intermediate the ends of said discharge pipes, and means closing the ends of said ejector nozzles when in position within the discharge pipes to prevent ingress of pulverulent material.

6. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, supporting means retaining the container in a tilted position with the longitudinal axis inclined to an angular position substantially equal to or greater than the angle of repose of the pulverulent material, a pair of discharge pipes entering and secured to the container adjacent the lowermost portion thereof, said pipes extending to either side of the container substantially tangential to the lowermost edge of the cylindrical base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and ejector means normally closing said discharge pipes and preventing entrance of material into said pipes.

7. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, supporting means retaining the container in a tilted position with the longitudinal axis inclined to an angular position substantially equal to or greater than the angle of repose of the pulverulent material, a pair of discharge pipes entering and secured to the container adjacent the lowermost portion thereof, said pipes extending to either side of the container substantially tangential to the lowermost edge of the cylindrical base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and ejector means normally closing said discharge pipes and preventing entrance of material into said pipes, said ejector means being selectively removable from the discharge pipes whereby the remaining ejector may be utilized to move material through the discharge pipe opened by removal of the selected ejector means.

8. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, supporting means retaining the container in a tilted position with the longitudinal axis inclined to an angular position substantially equal to or greater than the angle of repose of the pulverulent material, a pair of discharge pipes entering and secured to the container adjacent the lowermost portion thereof, said pipes extending to either side of the container substantially tangential to the lowermost edge of the cylindrical base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and ejector means normally closing said discharge pipes and preventing entrance of material into said pipes, said ejector means having the inner ends thereof terminating adjacent a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of the tilted container.

9. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a. cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, a central cylindrical portion joining each of said portions to form a pressure vessel, supporting means retaining the container in a tilted position with the longitudinal axis inclined to an angular position substantially equal to or greater than the angle of repose of the pulverulent material, a pair of discharge pipes entering and secured to the container adjacent the lowermost portion thereof, said pipes extending to either side of the container substantially tangential to the lowermost edge of the cylindrical base portion and having their axes substantially in alignment, and ejector means normally closing said discharge pipes and preventing entrance of material into said pipes, said ejector means including nozzles with the inner open ends thereof terminating adja-- cent a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of the tilted container and also including a plurality of small openings located adjacent the line of intersection of the associated discharge pipe and container.

10. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, an elongated central cylindrical portion joining the head and base portions, and a plate metal skirt shrouding the lower portion of the container and having its upper edge secured to the base portion and to said elongated central cylindrical portion substantially throughout the height of the latter to retain the container in a tilted position.

11. A closed container for the shipment of pulverulent material comprising a cylindrical head portion, a cylindrical base portion, an elongated central cylindrical portion joining the head and base portions, and a plate metal skirt shrouding the lower portion of the container and having its upper edge secured to the base portion and to said elongated central cylindrical portion sub stantially throughout the height of the latter to retain the container in a tilted position, said supporting skirt being substantially elliptical in cross-section and edge welded to said portions.

GEORGE R. ERICSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 187,315 Richards Feb. 13, 1877 323,612 Werner Aug. 4, 1885 547,466 Whisler Oct. 8, 1895 1,357,663 Von Porat Nov. 2, 1920 1,653,631 Kirkland Dec. 27, 1927 1,889,480 Kelley -1 Nov. 29, 1932 2,102,112 Costello Dec. 14, 1937 2,115,023 Kennedy Apr. 26, 1938 2,191,096 McCurdy Feb. 20, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 773,641 France Sept. 3, 1934 100,047 Australia Jan. 11, 1937 118,502 Australia May 9, 1944 

